One in a Million
by OffOnAComet
Summary: What happened leading up to the first time Kaspar saw Betty? And what made him decide to run away?


Who would have thought that my first fic would be a Kiki Strike one?

I decided to write about what I thought happened leading up to the first time Phineas (Caspar) saw  
Betty, and what the deciding factor was for him running away. The fic is from his POV. I tried to keep  
everyone in character.

To understand this fic you need to have read the second Kiki Strike book; The Empress's Tomb.

I can hardly wait for the third book to come out. Kiki must fight the forces of evil in order to claim the  
throne of Pokrovia. Betty gets a few lessons on what it means to be a "lady." Eventually, the two plot  
lines collide in the tunnels under Paris.

The book will feature secret societies, etiquette lessons, escargot, potential cures for female  
baldness, and at least one love triangle.

I also heard that they are trying to make the book into a movie. I'm beyond excited!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Kiki Strike series, which includes Betty Bent, Phineas Parker, or his  
parents the doctors Parker and Parker, whose names have conveniently slipped my mind. Oh well.

********************

"Phineas!"

I had been enjoying a quiet evening alone with my painting when it was interrupted by my mother. A  
few seconds later the bedroom door was flung open to reveal my mother looking slightly annoyed. I  
lowered my head to hide a smile. Usually she and my father were the ones I found to be annoying instead of the reverse.

"Phineas," she said again.

This time when I looked up I noticed that she was dressed up. Maybe my parents were going out.  
That would be nice since I rarely had any time to my self. Being a child prodigy meant having my every move analyzed and after fifteen years I was sick of it.

I looked at her expectantly. I had learned that she would usually leave me alone afterwards if I  
pretended to listen to what she had to say. It was never anything meaningful. My parents were too  
interested in their titles, patients, and work to care all that much about me. To them I was just  
something else to study. Sometimes I wondered if the only reason they even had me was so they could  
have someone to study constantly undisturbed.

I was lucky they were well known for their work with 'gifted children'. That meant there was never a  
shortage of new patients to study and I was left alone most of the time. The one considerate thing I can  
ever remember they doing for me was getting me the squirrels. The three of them were almost always  
with me.

"Your father and I are going to the Met tonight to see La Boehme," she began.

I had been right; they were going out. I wondered why she had come to tell me though. Usually they  
left without saying anything a word to me. I was about to find out.

"Have a nice time," I said, happy to be left alone.

She gave one of her annoying condescending smiles.

"You are coming with us," she finished.

I looked up at her in disbelief. I could have counted on one hand the times in my life that my parents  
and I had gone anywhere together. I wondered vaguely if they were trying to some sort of strange  
family-bonding-type experiment. If that was the case they were about fifteen years to late. My mother  
seeing the surprised look on my face continued.

"Your father and I decided that we would all go as a … family," she finished awkwardly.

I didn't believe that it was that simple. All the other times that we had gone anywhere together it was  
so they could display their 'gifted' son to a colleague or someone else they thought was important. I had  
had enough of that to last a lifetime and had no desire to be anyone's entertainment again.

"No thank you," I answered. "I'm busy."

She frowned.

"Phineas, your father and I are going to be going out of town for the weekend. We had thought it  
would be nice to do something together before we left …" Her voice trailed off.

I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she was about five seconds away from calling my  
father and a team of specialists to analyze my aberrant behavior. She was convinced that my refusal to  
join them in a family outing was evidence of some psychological problem. The doctors Parker and Parker  
never passed up an opportunity to study a patient even if said patient was their own son.

I weighed my options. There was outright refusal which would result in me having no peace for a  
long while or I could endure an evening with them which would result in being left alone for the  
weekend. I chose to disarm a potentially hazardous situation by choosing the lesser of the two evils. I  
put down the brushes and stood up.

"How soon are we leaving?" I asked.

My mother gave one of her tight smiles.

"Good boy," she said as if talking to a small child. "We leave in half an hour."

**************************

I sat in my seat impatiently waiting for the opera to start. As I had expected there had been a small  
gathering of psychologists present which my parents had been eager to introduce me to. They were all  
about appearances.

As I waited I watched people trickle into the cavernous auditorium and fill the seats. Suddenly  
someone caught my eye. A girl was coming down the aisle. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever  
seen. She was wearing a white dress and her black hair was pulled back elegantly.

Even after the opera had begun I found that I was still staring. I watched her throughout the opera.  
She was completely absorbed by it. She smiled, cried, and more than once I saw her mouth move along  
with the words being sung. I made up my mind that when it was over I would find her and talk to her. I  
had to at least find out her name.

Unfortunately, after the lights came on and the applause had died down people began to exit faster  
than I had anticipated. By the time I had managed to get out of my seat and into the aisle she was  
already two aisles away. I tried to get through the crowd but there were too many people. While she  
managed to navigate her way through the masses like an expert I wasn't having as easy of a time. It was  
like trying to swim against a current.

To my great disappointment I was finally forced to give up and was pushed backwards out of the  
auditorium with the crush of people. The last glimpse I had of her she was disappearing backstage.

**************************

I was lost in my own world the whole ride home. I was vaguely aware of my parents talking with each  
other but didn't really pay attention to what they said. One thing I did hear though was that they now  
wanted me to go along with them to their weekend conference.

It was then that I made up my mind to do something that I had been mulling over for a while. I was  
going to runaway. They didn't need me, or want me. Living on my own didn't scare me. In a way I had  
been alone for a long time now.

I waited until they had gone to bed to leave. Gathering some money and my devoted squirrels I  
deactivated the alarm system and slipped out into the humid august night. I knew where I would go;  
Central Park. My parents could look for me but New York was a big city. How easy could it be to find one  
kid out of a million?

My thoughts again turned to the mystery girl I had encountered at the Met. I wished I had a way of  
finding her but like I had said; New York was a large city. How could I possibly find one girl out of millions  
of people?

This being my first fic feed back would be appreciated. Tell me what you think of it.


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